Monday, January 30, 2012

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Published:
January 1, 2008

Pages: 479

Source:
Bought

Rating:
6 STARS

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

In short:The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness was an outstanding novel with inspiring, heart-breaking prose and an utterly fascinating premise.

So, I'm giving this book 6 Stars. I know that's kind of cheating my rating system, but I need some way to indicate how much I LOVED this book more than anything else I have reviewed on this blog without resorting to rerating every other book one star lower. I'm going to say this, and I don't say it lightly: The Knife of Never Letting Go is one of the best books I've ever read, second only to Harry Potter. Those that know me - and have eyes and know what my blog is all about - know how truly significant that statement is.

Noise, as depicted in the Chaos Walking Trilogy

The Knife of Never Letting Go is so difficult to describe without revealing too much about the plot. But I'll give it a shot: Todd lives on a strange new planet in which men's thoughts can be heard by everyone - an effect known as "Noise". He lives in a town that is populated only by men after the events of a war with the native alien species, called Spackle. One month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd must escape his town when it is made apparent that the men who run everything are after him for a terrible reason. So, what genre is this? Sci fi, dystopian, fantasy? I think it's somehow all three. This aspect is what makes The Knife of Never Letting Go so utterly bizarre - and yet so utterly awesome, as well.

Patrick Ness' writing is just achingly beautiful. Written in a sort of flow of consciousness of Todd's thoughts with limited grammar and phonetic spellings, it is meant to reflect the ever constant Noise that men on the planet have. I was nervous a bit about the style of writing at first, thinking I would find it hard to get into and it would feel awkward. But the reverse of that couldn't be more true: the flow of consciousness of thoughts made the writing flow quickly and smoothly. I also felt that it had the effect of making me feel very deeply for everything Todd goes through. The Knife of Never Letting Go was an extremely emotional read for me because of this. There was one scene in particular in which I had to stop reading and I did not continue, nor read anything else, for a few days until I had calmed down.

This review wouldn't be complete without mentioning one more thing: Manchee, Todd's talking dog. You heard right: animals on this planet also have Noise, so they can, in essence, talk. I can't adequately express the deep love I felt for Manchee. He is a legit dog who says things a dog would actually say - none of that ridiculous sarcastic talking dog stereotype that seems so prevalent in our culture to be had here. Think Dug from Up.

Overall, The Knife of Never Letting Go was the best, most interesting, and most heart-breaking book I read in 2011. I'm not sure I did a good enough job in this review describing how truly incredible this book was - I find it's hardest with the books that you are most affected by. But I hope that doesn't deter you from reading it. Also, don't be afraid of the page count! I found the plot to be very fast paced. I highly recommend adding The Knife of Never Letting Go to your TBR pile.

I was so hesitant to pick up this book, after I caught a glimpse of what the "noise" looked like on paper, but I'm so glad I did. It's one of my favourite series - it broke my heart more times then I can count, but still left me with enough hope to wipe the tears and move forward.

I was just talking about the book with my brother a few nights ago and I started crying in the car. And now, reading this review, I'm crying again. Ahhhhhh!!! This book, this book, this book.

I think I've mentioned it to you before, but I still haven't moved on to books #2 and #3 because Knife shook me up so much. I am pretty sure I know which scene forced you to step away from the book because it did the same for me and I sort of freeze up when I imagine what's ahead. I'm determined to finally take the plunge this year, though, because I know it will be full of more brilliance from Patrick Ness.

It was such an emotional rollercoaster, I know. I often tear up thinking about it too.

It's true, The Knife really sets the tone for the way things will go... and the last 2 books end up even more heavy and heart-breaking, if that's possible. There are some pretty serious themes involving genocide and war. Still, I think the payoff is worth it. The story is just so beautiful and poignant. Patrick Ness is a genius.

Wow Aylee! Adding a whole new start to your rating system just for this book? Must be truly something special:) I would read it just for the talking dog alone, but the rest of it sounds amazing as well. Truly outstanding review:)

I loved Manchee, he had to be my favourite character! I got this book because it was in my goodreads recommendations and I absolutely adored it! And wow 6 stars! Yes, I'm glad you loved it that much! This is definitely one of the best books I've read in awhile and I can't wait to finish the series!

Manchee is one of my favourite characters ever!! I am a huge dog lover though, so no surprise there. I'm excited to hear what you have to think about the rest of the series. It's definitely more intense, more gruesome, more heart-breaking. Not exactly an easy read, but still a good one!

I really didn't have an interesting in reading this book before, but now I feel like I HAVE to. I mean, significant statement aside, talking dogs are a treasure. I love Oberon, from the Iron Druid Chronicles, but he does have a tendency to be a bit snarky.

Fantasy and Sci-fi are genres I've always struggled getting into, but the set up for the planet Todd lives in sounds so fantasy. I mean, how do they populate their planet? is that even an issue? I guess not if he is the only "child" left. Also, thoughts are such a personal thing, but I wonder if people would even think so when they are raised with the constant intrusion into their thoughts.

Ooh, Oberon is the main reason I want to read the Hounded series! I like snarky dogs, but it's just so rare that we get to read about what a real talking dog would say, that I treasured that all the more.

Clarification: it's only the town that Todd lives in that is populated by men only. And as far as Todd knows, his is the only town on the planet and it's dying out. But as he later finds out, he was lied to a lot.

You've hit on one of the core themes of the novel with the thoughts comment. Men on this world do become accustomed to Noise and are able to control their thoughts a lot easier with practice. Certain people feel as though Noise is a disease that needs to be eradicated and controlled. Other people feel as though Noise is the natural way of things and as long as you open yourself up to it, you can be one with it, and not be consumed by it. These two sides of Noise later become one of the driving factors behind a major war. Quite the concept!

Yay, I'm really glad you posted up your review for this one. I love fantasy - I didn't know this one had elements of it - and since you loved this one so much, I'm going to assume the sci-fi elements are somewhat realistic. Lol, if the six stars didn't convince me to pick this up, I think the talking dog would have. I'm definitely planning on checking this one out when I get the time. Thanks, Aylee!

Yeah, I knew I had to post it, but it ended up being very difficult to write! The Noise that the alien species, the Spackle, communicate with is not based on any sort of science as far as I am concerned - which is why I say there are some fantastical elements in there. I'm glad my rating and Manchee are convincing people they need to read this book! Thanks for reading!

I would recommend giving it a go, for sure! If only for Manchee. Just a word of warning: it ends on quite the cliffhanger so you may feel compelled to read the other ones as well, even if you didn't feel The Knife was your thing.

I book-talked this title in 3 different English classes today-- it is such a great book. I am from VA and this is one of the 10 books up for the Virginia Reader's Choice Award. I would vote for it if I were able to!

I agree it is hard to describe this book without giving too much away, You did a good job!

Cool! I'm glad people love this one so much that it's getting tons of recognition. Well deserved recognition! And thanks! It was tough, but I think that speaks to the wonderful complexity and intrigue of the plot!

Wow, 6 stars? You make me really want to read this book! I picked it up at the library a long time ago and didn't get past the first chapter before I had to return it. I meant to pick it back up sometime and now I think I may have found the motivation. :)

I think it does have some dystopian elements, but it's perhaps heavier on the sci fi side of things. The world was just fascinating. Not just the talking animals, but that part was significant curiosity, for sure.

Manchee is a terrific dog. I wish my dog could talk. But then sometimes I think, ahhhh, maybe I'm glad he doesn't. I like the noise in the book, too. That would be awful to have to deal with that daily. The ending of this book was killer. Wowzers for sure! Great review :)

Haha, I'm pretty sure my dog would have nothing important to say but still, it would be nice to be able to interact with him. Probably make training tons easier! Noise would definitely be a pain to deal with. I'm glad that being female, I wouldn't have Noise if I were living on this planet.

The ending was a major cliffhanger, I know. Which is why I was glad that I had the second book lined up, ready to go.

Your library doesn't have the other books yet? That's odd. They are fairly old (by which I mean that the last one came out in 2010, which seems like a long time ago). But that's definitely a good plan to read them back to back, I think, because the cliffhangers are killer. And thank you so much!

Oh wow, I am SO curious about this book now! I had heard little things about this book, but never paid a whole lot of attention to it. I've added it to the list of book to read. Great review Aylee, I could really feel how much you loved this book.

Yay! It makes me so incredibly happy to hear that people are adding this one to their tbr because of my review. Because it is so deserving of as many people as possible experiencing it and enjoying it. Thanks for the compliment; I was really hoping I was going to be able to relay how amazing I felt this book was!

I absolutely loved When a Monster Calls but was kind of apprehensive about this! I have it on my to be read though after everyone saying YOU NEED TO READ THIS and your review further enables my resolve. Six stars is such a high rating!! I almost feel like I have to mentally prepare myself for this series because I know it will break my heart. I already know I will be an emotionally wreck, I am every time I re-read Harry Potter! My favourite description of a work is "achingly beautiful" so I really liked that you said that. I loved reading this review because your emotions shone through so much. I'm going to try to read it soon!

I had this one on my tbr forever too, but kept putting it off because I was kind of scared of they hype, scared that it would never live up to it. I'm so glad I got over that because it surpassed how much I thought I would like it! The other problem is one that I share with you: I knew from reviews that it was going to be heart-breaking. It took a lot out of me, but I think it was so worth it. I only wish I could fully relay how amazing this book was; "Achingly beautiful" will have to do. Thank you so much for the compliment - it is truly appreciated!! Thanks for reading!

Not really. It was fairly unique, I thought. I've heard a similar writing style (phonetic spellings and limited grammar) is found in Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a book which has been on my tbr forever.